07/19/2026
I’ve been posting a lot in my stories about these trees at the Pasadena schools. It’s about 200 trees. The school district got a report that said the soil was contaminated (no arguments there) from the nearby 2025 Eaton Canyon fires. Their solution is to cut all the trees down so they can extract and replace the soil.
This is literally the dumbest thing. THE SOIL CAN BE REMEDIATED WITHOUT CUTTING THE TREES DOWN. They need to look at low pressure hydro extraction of the top layer of soil, and instantly replacing with clean soil to encapsulate the contaminated soil deeper below and protect the student from being exposed to this contamination. They clearly listened to the soil remediation team, but did NOT consult with arborists trained to preserve trees while working around them.
A tree climbing event was held yesterday - organized by Friends of the Pasadena Unified School District Trees - to raise awareness about this issue. Los Angeles Times was there and wrote this article I screenshotted so you guys can read it. Go see all the awesome pics on their website.
If you’re the kind of person to DO something- contact someone at the PUSD school board and tell them to find a way to remediate the soil without removing the trees. Pasadena Unified School District Listen to the people!
The students and community at these Pasadena schools are about to lose a lot of shade, beauty, natural habitat that CANNOT be replaced. Huge shout out to pasadenatreepreservation Chaney Trail Corridor Project Rhonda Wood Cristian Garcia Arcos 🌲 Sabine Hoppner and everyone else for trying to not let that happen.
(Side note: the article references a 100 ft tall Aleppo pine. As an arborist I have to clarify it’s a Canary Island pine 🤭 The last 2 pics aren’t from the article. They are my own. This is Paloma, the student I guided up this pine. The arms out pose is inspired by Julia Butterfly Hill when she was in Luna )
